


Head Unbowed

by intelcore



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: EDIT 2020: old fic!! read at own risk, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intelcore/pseuds/intelcore
Summary: Unfaithful. Cruel. Unforgiving. You can use these words to describe the King of the Gods. But not weak. Rulers are never weak, and above everything else Zeus was a ruler. How he came to be though is a tale of a cupbearer.A story about the last days of the first Titanomachy.
Kudos: 6





	Head Unbowed

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 2020: again a repost, again for strictly archiving purposes. i can find a hundred things wrong with this one, but honestly, this just makes me happy because my energy was iconic then. i can’t believe little me thought it was a good idea to write a whole story about zeus, went searching for poetry to put as an epigraph and dedicated it to the only irl friend I ve ever shared my ffn account with. little me gave no shits about anything but doing what she loved and that’s the way to go.

_**This is dedicated to Muskaan. Thanks for being so forceful while trying encourage me and so well receiving when I show you my works. Hope you enjoy this!** _

**o.O.o**

_Under the bludgeoning of chance_

_My head is bloody, but unbowed..._

_I am the master of my fate;_

_I am the captain of my soul._

_-William Ernest Henley, "Invictus"_

**o.O.o**

"Well," Hades drawled, long fingers knitted together. "I can certainly see why no one else has joined us in this fight. What with these kind of plans, I don't reckon we'll last that long."

The six children of Kronos were kneeling down on the floor of one of the caves they'd made their safe haven for making battle tactics.

Zeus gazed down at the hastily drawn map of Greece, with mountains that seemed too lopsided."Have you got a better idea, brother?"

 _Brother_. The word tasted foreign on his tongue. He'd been alone for _years,_ among only satyrs and nymphs. He'd heard the termsof endearment—of family—thrown about in his father's palace, but he had never had it applied to _him_. And now he had two brothers and three sisters. A family. Kind of.

Hades curled his lip. "Not really. Though, if you allowed me some time, that could change."

"We don't have time!" Zeus exclaimed. "Our father is the Lord of Time. Even what little we have now could pass before it should if he wishes. And you are suggesting we prolong _further_?! Scaling Mount Olympus is not going to be that hard! Would you rather we wait for them to attack? Early morning, we climb the mountain with the Hundred-Handed Ones and Cyclopes. Mount Othrys will be within firing range. We can get them by a surprise attack!"

Hades sighed and leaned back, his head hitting the wall lightly. "Fine. Although, this paranoia is going to do you in one day. I pray it is not now."

Poseidon narrowed his eyes."And I pray your your negligence is not what does us in, either."

Hera cleared her throat, breaking up the fight before it started. "We must focus more on the task before us. Don't forget who the real enemy is here."

Zeus bowed his head down, anxious to change the topic. It was awkward, making battle plans with people he barely knew, but who had known each other all their lives. It felt like he was constantly intruding. "We're loitering."

Hestia bit her lip. "I think we still should make peace."

Demeter scoffed. "Don't be preposterous, Hestia! After everything Father has done to us..." She shuddered.

 _What he did to you, is_ nothing _compared to what he did to me._ Zeus thought bitterly. _You guys grew up cramped, but together. You had people who loved you, with you at all times. He took my family and made them strangers._

Sometimes, he wished his mother hadn't saved him. One day, the war was going to end, and he would not have anything to go back to, except that small field near Mount Ida and no one to go back to except the wood folk.

Well, he'd just have to make something. He'd have to make somewhere his home. _Something_. 

"Demeter is right." Hades said, snapping him out of his musings. "And so is Zeus, to an extent. We can't forgive Father, and if everybody is hellbent on dashing away to their doom, we better start _now_."

Poseidon stood up, shrugging, hefting his trident. "Fine by me."

Zeus sprang up to his feet, cradling the Master Bolt. Like before, its power coursed through his veins, giddily and potent. At least that was a constant.

He sneaked a look at his siblings, strapping on their armour and testing their weapons. Hera, beautiful without trying, stronger that steel. Demeter, deadly with her golden sword. Hestia with kindness that surpassed any of their traits. Hades, cool and composed, always knowing what to do. Poseidon, with uncontrollable power, let free.

And him too, he figured. Despite everything, he’d managed to persevere through the odds.

"Here's the plan," Zeus said, “Hera, Demeter, Hestia you will attack the defences around Mount Othrys’s base. I think Koios is leading the charge, along with Oceanus’s pick of monsters. We'll take Kronos and the rest of the Titans."

Hera huffed. "How boring. We want to take some revenge too."

"You can think of the punishments we need to issue." Zeus promised. "Look at it this way. You can't really kill the Titans, but you _can_ kill the monsters."

"They won't die, but you can kill them." Poseidon added helpfully.

Hera looked pleased.

"So, we scale Olympus under the cover of darkness?" Hestia asked quietly. "But then what? We murder our family?"

"We win the war." Zeus corrected.

**o.O.o**

_BOOM!_

The Master Bolt flew back into Zeus's hand, burning as he closed his fingers around it. Rocks and boulders the size of a hundred trees rained down around them, thrown by the Hundred-Handed Ones.

The air shimmered faintly near him, and the next moment, Hades appeared beside him, the Helm of Darkness in his arms. "Zeus, the army is almost incapacitated. I've been scaring Titans off cliffs _all day_. It gets troublesome after a while."

"Have you thought of how _they_ feel?"

A twitchy smile appeared on Hades's face. "Point."

Suddenly there was a sound like thunder and it all went dark. The tallest tower crashed down at their feet, shrapnel and metal flying at them. Zeus squeezed his eyes shut, pulling Hades back with him.

The dust cleared, but the damage was done. And amidst all this stood Poseidon, trident raised high, eyes closed. He opened them slowly, surveying the situation before breaking out in a crooked grin. "I did it!"

"If you mean nearly kill everyone, then yes." Hades said grumpily.

"I thought not being able to kill everyone was the problem. I do not understand. What is the matter?" Poseidon asked innocently.

Hades rolled his eyes in response. Then, before he could say anything else the ground shifted beneath them. Poseidon opened his mouth: " _LOOK OUT_!"

Zeus barely ducked as a gold gilded spear sailed over his head. General Atlas rose up, bound in chains and Brontes dragging him by his hair. Briares, the Hundred-Handed One snatched the spear out of his hands. The four Titans of the Directions spilled out behind him-Hyperion, Krios, Koios and Iapetus.

"We have brought them here, my lords." Brontes said, bowing low. His brethren joined him.

"Cousins," Atlas greeted briskly. "It is rather unnerving to see you all so...well, about and free! I must say though, I preferred you all in the Crooked One's stomach."

"We preferred it when we didn't know you, really." Zeus said. "We all can't get what we prefer, now can we?"

As he spoke, Brontes the Elder Cyclops bound Atlas with more chains he had crafted. The first set had merely been wood. These were crafted with Celestial Bronze. The general didn't make a noise, but writhed and turned.

Atlas bared his teeth. It was obvious he wasn't backing down even if his army was being slaughtered, even if his home was crashing and _burning_ before his eyes.

But his uncles all had guilty expressions in their faces. The mighty Titans who'd held Ouranus down, for their brother to chop up, looked almost regretful.

For a minute, Zeus felt pity. They hadn't asked for the war. Kronos had ordered them to fight and they had had no choice. They were wronged by his father as much as he and his siblings were.

But the momentary sympathy disappeared. They _had_ had a choice. Long ago, in front of their mother—Gaea. In front of _Zeus's_ mother, when she had borne Hestia.

And they had chosen wrong.

Before Zeus could do anything—and he wasn't sure _what_ he wanted to do—Poseidon surged forward, arms bare of weapons. Something in Zeus's mind urged him to scream at his brother, to warn him that this was a trick, a sick cruel trick that would end him, immortal or not.

And he was right.

Hyperion swung his golden blade at Poseidon, who missed it by a few inches. Poseidon staggered back, eyes wide. Hyperion got about cutting his chains. Brontes hadn't gotten to chaining up the elder Titans with Celestial Bronze yet.

But Zeus had expected this. He lunged forward, Master Bolt in hand, straight at Hyperion's heart. Overcome by rage, he thrust it through his chest, the golden ichor staining the ground beneath them. The Titan of the East fell to his knees. Poseidon followed Zeus's lead, sweep hitting the other three Titans on their chest with his trident. They all collapsed.

"T-Tartarus..." Zeus panted. "You all deserve that. Brontes, Arges, Steropes...bind them and banish them to Tartarus."

The Cyclopes bowed their heads in acknowledgement.

Atlas coughed. "This will not do. By exiling these four, you will doom all of us who remain. The sky will fall upon us. It is only these four's presence on Earth that prevents Ouranus from crashing on to Gaea."

"That's where you come in." Zeus said softly. The adrenaline rush was disappearing but his anger didn't curb. He wanted to crush his uncles. He wanted to crush his father. And he knew exactly how to crush Atlas. "You will hold up the sky all by yourself, enduring forever the weight of your sins. Consider yourself special, Atlas. You will have no assistance. Let us see just how much your strength can withstand." He turned to Briares. "Take him away."

The Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones dragged their captives away. When they were out of sight, Zeus couldn't help it. He fell to his knees, shaking. He'd pictured this for ages. He pictured saving his siblings, of reuniting with his mother. Of punishing the Titans. Of killing his father. And he would. Kronos's strength lay in his trickery and army. He was nothing now. Wasted. Old. Powerless. He would die tomorrow, and Zeus would be the one who would drop the axe. The one who'd cut him off from his family, like he had so long ago.

Alone.

They were alone now. Truly.

He looked back at his brothers, who were staring at him with horror-struck expressions. "Does this make us...is this ours now?”

They didn't answer. They just stared.

”The war is over,” Zeus said. “The war is...what do we do now?"

Slowly, after what seemed several millennia, his brothers seemed to shake themselves awake. “The war isn’t over,” Hades warned. “We still have to deal with Kronos. But—yes, we will have to...take over, I suppose. Divvy up domains, settle disputes. Rule.”

New rulers. Zeus thought. For a new age.

**o.O.o**

"Bring him in." Zeus commanded Brontes, the next day. The children of Kronos were seated in the half destroyed throne room of Mount Othyrs. "Drag him in if you must."

"He refuses to be brought in for trial in front of his children." Brontes explained quietly."He says that he does not wish to see his children betray him."

"Oh, so _eating_ us was better?!" Demeter shouted. "He is a filthy hypocrite!"

"Tell us something new, Demeter." Hades drawled, lounging in the throne of Iapetus. "But honestly, since when do we care what he wants? Just drag him in!"

"It is not as simple as that, my Lord." Brontes said quietly. "He is still the Ruler of the Cosmos, as long as he survives. Merely dethroning him will not work. Tossing him intoTartarus will not work. History _must_ repeat itself. Lord Zeus, you must destroy Kronos as Uranus was destroyed by him."

"But the prophecy warns that shedding blood would only uphold the cycle." Hestia said silently. "He would be dooming himself by killing Father."

"I am sorry my lords and ladies, but there is no other way." Brontes said regretfully. "This is what Ananke has decreed. There is no other way."

There was a stiff silence. Hades shot him a wary look.

"We will have to do it." Zeus said finally. He fished for a smile. Well, it seemed he was out of those. "There is no arguing with the Fates. There is no point trying to escape what we must do, for the good of the entire Cosmos. We will have to make many difficult decisions. This is the first one in our path. Whatever happens...we will deal with it. Won’t we?”

No one met his gaze.

"We will." Zeus answered himself.

**o.O.o**

"Well, you get what you give, don't you?" Kronos looked different from the last time Zeus had seen him. Thinner. More tired. Defeated. "My little cupbearer, the one who escaped. My own medicine, when I needed it the most. It all comes back."

Zeus kept his eyes focused on the blade of the scythe. His father had always had a way with words. He tested the blade lightly on his own finger, a shallow mark that meant nothing to immortals. Beads of ichor dripped from the wound. Before him, his father didn't move.

"You don't want to do it, Zeus." Kronos said gently. "If not for my sake, then yours. Your son will stare down at you one day, and contemplate killing you, and he will not hesitate to plunge the sword into your heart. He will end you, like you did me, like I did my father before. We can begin another legacy together!"

"You lost it." Zeus said, positioning the blade on his father’sheart. "You lost everything when you killed your father. _That's_ the difference. I'll find love. I'll have children who I will raise. And till then I've got my brothers and sisters. I've got eternity to put a distance between our fates. I won't become you. People will not remember me as the son of Kronos. They will remember me as the one who killed you. The one who changed his fate. That is the difference."

After that, killing him is easy, mindless work.

**o.O.o**

_He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled._

_-Aristotle_

**o.O.o**


End file.
